


No Boys Allowed!

by LitsyKalyptica



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: All Female Cast, F/F, F/M, Female Friendship, Female Protagonist, Female-Centric, Gen, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reality TV, slow burn maybe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 22:14:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12045372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LitsyKalyptica/pseuds/LitsyKalyptica
Summary: Twenty women agree to be moved into a self-sufficient community where they will compete to see how long they can last without male contact.





	No Boys Allowed!

_I’m very grateful for the opportunities you’ve provided me so far, most of all the chance to work with such wonderful little children! They’ve inspired me these five wonderful years, but due to personal circumstances, I worry I will not be returning in September. As much as I’d like to retain my position, I wouldn’t put you in the position of not knowing whether this new batch of kindergarteners will have a teacher in the fall. So I will leave my spot open, and part ways on the best of terms! Thank you for everything, Maureen. Sincerely, Carmen._

It was something of a relief to be able to finalize this issue sooner rather than later. Still, only giving us a week was pretty short notice to tie up all loose ends. I didn’t know what to expect of myself, how long I’d last in this competition -how long could I potentially last without male contact? “I don’t think I’ve had any prominent men in my life,” I thought aloud, almost forgetting that I was sitting in Marianne’s room, with Marianne only a few feet away, digging through her closet.

She let out a soft huff of a laugh. “Lucky you.” She straightened herself up from her burrowing position, and stretched her arms up over her head. She seemed to follow that train of thought when she continued, “Arthur doesn’t know I’m leaving. And I don’t want him to find out. Not yet, anyway.”

I picked a little at the leg of my shorts. “You’re gonna end up just leaving a note on the door -saying we’ll be back in a few weeks, maybe months- for him to find when he comes looking for you.”

“My mother will know we’re going. He can always call and ask her. At the very least it’ll keep him from reporting me missing that someone knows where I am.” She sighed and dropped to the stool of her vanity. “No, no, I’ll try to remember to talk to him before we leave. But he’s not going to be… happy.”

I bristled. Marianne and Arthur had always made a turbulent pair. Just lately it’d been worse than usual.

I watched Marianne for what she might say next. She clucked her tongue against the inside of her cheek. Then she gave me a half smile. “I could really use a couple of months without men.”

I couldn’t help but smile back. “I did good, didn’t I?” It had been my idea, after all, to take part in this contest. Marianne had been reluctant at first, but after thinking about it some more, she gave in. So I couldn’t help but feel the pride of helping take the weight off my best friend’s shoulders.

Marianne’s smile mirrored mine. “You did very well, darling. But don’t you have packing to do?”

I shrugged a little, laughing. “I kinda already did?” I’d been living out of boxes for months. My roommate probably didn’t notice; we never hung out in my room, only in hers. Hers was much neater, better set up. “You’re just gonna end up unpacking all that stuff anyway. We don’t have to leave for another week. If you pack up all your clothes, I’m sure you’ll need some of them in the meantime.”

“It’s not all my clothes…”

“It’s most of them.”

Marianne laughed quietly. “I don’t want to forget anything important.”

I didn’t want to argue with her, so we didn’t talk for a few minutes. It normally wouldn’t have been an uncomfortable silence. But Marianne went stiff, hands balled into tight fists, eyes red-rimmed when she turned to look at me. “Oh, sweetheart, come here.”

She climbed onto the bed next to me, and laid her head on my shoulder.

“It’s not gonna be forever.” I played with her hair a little. It was so soft. “But you’ll have time to clear your head before you get back. And then when the time comes you can decide whether you wanna, y’know, get back together with him or not.” I wasn’t going to pretend (for anyone but Marianne) that I didn’t think Arthur was a worthless piece of shit. The very thought of him brought the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end, and my tongue to burn with unvoiced complaints. But, for better or worse, Marianne still loved him. She wasn’t ready to give that up just yet. I could only hope then that this new experience (the longest Mari had been away from Arthur in years) would be enough to change her mind.

* * *

Marianne and I arrived at the secluded location on the first of July. The road was canopied by tree, but they were bright green with summer. I was glad to not be the one driving. I wanted to just admire the beautiful scenery.

We came upon a parking lot in the middle of the woods. A young girl -she didn’t look more than fifteen- waved us over to a spot, but yelped and scurried out of the way of where Marianne went to park. We got out and, figuring we wouldn’t be taking the car any further than this, we grabbed our luggage out of the trunk and back seat. Marianne had two suitcases and a carryon bag; I had a duffel bag stuffed with essentials.

The girl timidly got our attention. “Good morning, Ma’ams.”

“Good morning, you lady!” I returned, smiling brightly at her as I read the nametag clipped to her shirt: “Klara.”

The teen appeared a little less stiff at that. She handed us each a card with a number on it. I was given a 12, and Marianne 13. Klara offered us a small smile. “Keep these until you go through the big gate. Linda will collect them from you once you, um, sign in.”

Marianne shifted, disquieted by the teen’s nervous behavior. It didn’t bother me, though. “Thank you, Klara. We’ll hold on tight to them until then!”

With a small nod, Klara pressed a combination into a keypad on the barrier, and it lifted for us to pass through.

Marianne waited until we were the only ones in each other’s earshot before she said anything else. “She was acting very strange.”

“It’s a big day for all of them. The production crew. And she looked so young, she must just be overwhelmed!”

This seemed all well-and-good to Marianne, so she just dropped it there. We hiked along the paved trail through the floral forest. I could walk along this path all day, even with my bag slung over my shoulder.

Just as Klara explained, Linda met us at the large gate. The fence went off in both directions, disappearing into the trees. It was tall and elegant, and seemed to welcome up to this place they were calling Willow Creek.

Linda greeted us from her desk next to the gate. It looked out of place here. “Good morning, ladies.” Linda didn’t look much older than Klara, but more mature with her glasses and hair up in a tight bun. “We can let you into the community as soon as we see you sign and show your IDs. Security concern. Really routine stuff.”

We fished our licenses out of our bags, and showed them to Linda. She brought a walkie-talkie up from a desk drawer, and spoke into it in a language neither of us could understand. From what I could tell, it sounded like Russian, but I wouldn’t really know. 

Linda nodded once, and smiled at us as she put the radio away. “Alright, you’re all good to go.”

At the press of a button, the gate made a clunking noise, and drew open.

I bounced in excitement, and looked at Marianne, hoping to see her feeling the same. She did, somewhat. She was nervous as ever to be here, but I grabbed her by the hand and pulled her through to our new adventure.


End file.
